Revision as of 22:48, 18 October 2012

Artwork featuring the starter Pokémon through Generation IV, not including Eevee

Generation V starters, as seen in the anime

At the beginning of their quest, Trainers are given a starter Pokémon (Japanese: はじめてのポケモンBeginning Pokémon or さいしょのポケモンfirst Pokémon; known as 御三家the big three among Japanese fans). This Pokémon will be used to battle the first wild Pokémon that the Trainer encounters.

Once another Pokémon is caught, the starter Pokémon may be retired, but it is often with this Pokémon that Trainers learn friendship and trust. As such, even advanced Trainers may still use their starter Pokémon, and they will often be the most powerful Pokémon on their respective teams.

In the games

In the main games, each starter Pokémon is at level 5, armed with one damage-dealing move and another that affects stats. Trainers can choose a Fire-, Water-, or Grass-type Pokémon (with one exception). The Trainer that will be designated as the player's rival will always choose or have the Pokémon of the starter trio that has a type advantage over the one the player chooses, though it may not be the case that they remain the true rival.

The player's rival will then pick the type-advantageous starter Pokémon, and the remaining Pokémon will sit in its Poké Ball on Oak's desk for the rest of the game.

Professor Oak offers one of this trio of Pokémon to the player in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver after the player has defeated Red, making reference to the fact that he gives them out as starter Pokémon in Kanto-based games, suggesting the player will be able to make it to the next town with one of these Pokémon by his or her side.

This Pikachu is the same one that attacked the player when they ventured onto Route 1 that Oak caught, which will be the only choice the player gets. Another notable change here involves the player's rival's Eevee which will evolve into one of its three Generation I evolutions, depending on the outcome of the battles between the player and the rival. During the adventure, the player will be able to get the original three Kanto starter Pokémon through special events not present in the earlier games. It remains to be the only main series game to allow the player to obtain all three starter Pokémon from a previous game legitimately, without trading. The Pikachu received from Oak will also refuse to evolve into Raichu by use of a Thunderstone unless it is traded away to do so.

After the player meets with Mr. Pokémon and receives a Pokédex from Professor Oak, Professor Elm will call the player to tell them that a thief has taken a Pokémon. As the player returns to New Bark Town, he or she will encounter the thief, who will have the stolen Pokémon with the type advantage over the player's own. From this point onward, the thief will be the player's rival, while Professor Elm keeps the Pokémon that was left behind by the thief on his desk for the remainder of the game (in HeartGold and SoulSilver, the last Pokémon mysteriously disappears at some point.

In Generation II, the Pokémon will be holding a Berry when received from Elm, though the rival's stolen starter Pokémon will not.

The player's neighbor, Brendan or May, already has his or her starter Pokémon, which is always the one with the type advantage. What happens to the starter not selected is unknown. By the end of the game, it seems that the player's nominal rival, the son/daughter of Professor Birch, has stopped being a Trainer, and Wally is actually the true rival, facing the player before he or she can leave Victory Road and staying there to rebattle the player later.

The player's friend and rival Barry will choose the starter Pokémon that has a type advantage against the player's choice, and the NPC who is the other-gender choice (Lucas/Dawn) will have the Pokémon weak to the player's choice, and therefore strong against Barry's. After fighting off the two Starly at the lake and returning the briefcase to Rowan, the professor will allow the player and Barry to keep the Pokémon they used.

In Pokémon Platinum, the player and the rival are stopped by Professor Rowan just as they are about to run through tall grass to get to Sandgem Town to ask the Professor for Pokémon. After some questions about the player and the rival's love for Pokémon, he decides to entrust them with one starter Pokémon each.

The player's friend Cheren will choose the Pokémon that is strong against the player's choice, while the player's other friend Bianca will choose the one weak to the player's choice. The choice of starter Pokémon affects which of the Gym Leaders of Striaton City will be battled; players who chose Snivy will face Chili, a Fire-type specialist, players who chose Tepig will face Cress, a Water-type specialist, and players who chose Oshawott will face Cilan, a Grass-type specialist. Also, the choice affects the Pokémon given to the player in the Dreamyard. Choosing Snivy gives the player a Panpour, Tepig a Pansage and Oshawott a Pansear.

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Bianca takes three starter Pokémon to Aspertia City on Professor Juniper's behalf and offers one of them to the player. The player's friend, Hugh, will have the Pokémon that is strong against the player's choice, having raised it from an Egg. The player character not chosen will have the starter that is weak to the player's choice, but in its second form.

Side series

A first for the Pokémon games, these starter Pokémon come as a pair as to represent the double-battle system, and are also different in that they are in the player's possession right at start of play. Umbreon is at level 26, knowing the TM moves Taunt and Snatch, as well as Bite which is otherwise only available through breeding at such a level. Espeon is at level 25, knowing the TM moves Return (and appears to start with maximum friendship) and Reflect. Both are always male.

This starter Pokémon is also in the player's possession right at the beginning. It is at level 10, knowing Bite which is again unique for this level. At an early point in the game, the player is offered one of five evolutionary items, Water Stone, Thunderstone, Fire Stone, Moon Shard and Sun Shard, to make the Eevee evolve into any of its (then) evolutions.

In Pokémon XD, if the player completes the Mt. Battle challenge and beats all 100 Trainers without quitting or switching Pokémon, Battlus will give one of the Johto starter Pokémon as a reward.

In the anime

Upon their tenth birthday, youths can register for a Pokédex and pick up a starter Pokémon from the local Pokémon professor or Pokémon Center free of charge. Starter Pokémon are usually raised specifically to be easy to train.

Like in the games, the specific starter Pokémon available vary from region to region, but are the same in each region as the games. That is, Kanto Trainers can only choose Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle, Johto Trainers can only choose Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile, and so on.

In A Mudkip Mission, it was shown where starter Pokémon come from. Each region has special breeding grounds for starter Pokémon. The Pokémon League sends these breeders the Pokémon Eggs for them to hatch at secret breeding grounds. The breeders then hatch, care for, and raise the young Pokémon until they are ready to be proper starter Pokémon for new Trainers. As these young ones are virtually defenseless, the locations of breeding grounds (or even the knowledge of their existence) is a secret unknown to most in the Pokémon world. This is likely to guard against unscrupulous individuals or groups (such as Team Rocket) from poaching the young Pokémon.

Other rookie Trainers may receive their first Pokémon from a friend or relative instead. Others, on the other hand, may befriend a Pokémon in the wild. These mean that Trainers can, in fact, start with any Pokémon.

Through her life Jessie had many temporary Pokémon belonging to her former partners, she even befriended one prior to joining Team Rocket, but her first oficially is a Ekans she received as a birthday gift.

Ash captured as well a Treecko in Hoenn, while Brock captured a Mudkip. Treecko evolved twice, becoming Sceptile before Ash left it at Professor Oak's lab, while Brock's Mudkip evolved into Marshtomp. Along with May's Torchic, the traveling trio had the three starter Pokémon of Hoenn.

May captured a Bulbasaur midway through her journey in Hoenn, and was given a Squirtle by Professor Oak when she journeyed to Kanto. Bulbasaur evolved all the way into Venusaur during May's travels through Johto. Squirtle also evolved into Wartortle during May's travels through Johto.

In Sinnoh, Ash repeated himself by capturing Turtwig, which has since evolved into a Torterra. His rival, Paul owned a Chimchar that was confirmed to be caught in the wild. It was released, recaught by Ash, and is now an Infernape.

Ash reused his pattern from the original series of capturing all starter Pokémon in Unova, Oshawott, Tepig and Snivy. However this time around he caught them in reverse of the Pokédex order rather than following it as he did in the original series, and Oshawott was in fact a starter Pokémon that Professor Juniper allowed Ash to have after it ran away to be with him.

Gary Oak had an Eevee at least since Ash was traveling in the Orange Islands. As it was revealed to be under his ownership before his Blastoise, it caused many to hearken back to Pokémon Yellow, where the player starts with Pikachu, like Ash, and the rival starts with Eevee. Either way, it was disproven that this was the case when Gary finally revealed his Blastoise to Ash. His Eevee eventually evolved into Umbreon.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

In Pokémon Adventures, the starter Pokémon featured in the games are reserved for the few people who hold a Pokédex. Professor Oak produces three Pokédex for each region, and gives out the three starter Pokémon in each region along with the Pokédex to Trainers he thinks are talented. He has colleagues and friends like Professor Birch do this for him in regions in which he isn't present.

Most characters in the manga do not start out with one of the Pokédex-related starter Pokémon. Instead, they usually have a Pokémon they were given by their parents when they were infants that they use as their starter Pokémon. Occasionally, it is not directly stated which Pokémon were their starter Pokémon in the manga, but in profiles of their teams, their starter Pokémon is marked with a star and is among the highest level in the party, even if they acquired more than one Pokémon at first.

List of starter Pokémon in Pokémon Adventures

Red's first Pokémon was a Poliwag he had since his childhood, which has evolved into a Poliwrath. Later, Professor Oak gave him a Bulbasaur, which became a Venusaur in his travels.

Yellow's first Pokémon was a Rattata that Red caught for her, which has evolved into a Raticate. Later, she borrowed Red's Pikachu, and after Red took him back, caught a female Pikachu for herself. Like the Pikachu in Yellow, neither evolved.

Gold's first Pokémon was his Aipom, now a Ambipom, that his mother gave him. Professor Elm allows him to keep a Cyndaquil, which becomes a Typhlosion alongside the other two starter Pokémon.

Silver's first Pokémon was the Sneasel, now a Weavile, that Giovanni gave him as a child. He later stole a Totodile from Professor Elm, as well as the first Pokédex of Johto. His starter Pokémon evolved twice into a Feraligatr.

Crystal's first Pokémon is officially her Smoochum, although she acquired many wild Pokémon that lived as a family while she was in the wild. Chikorita later ran away from Professor Elm to go with her, and became a Meganium midway into their journey.

Ruby and his first Pokémon from the left to the right: Ruru, Coco and Nana

Ruby's first Pokémon were the Ralts, Skitty and Poochyena that he received from his father, all of them evolved into Kirlia, Delcatty and Mightyena respectively. Later, he got Professor Birch's Mudkip. It evolved into a Swampert from the concussive battles it underwent. He was never formally given the Pokédex, it ended up in his hands, and he was allowed to keep it.

Sapphire's first Pokémon was the Aron, now a Aggron her father gave her. Later, he gave her a Torchic along with her Pokédex, which evolved twice under her care into Blaziken.

Wally's first Pokémon was a Kecleon that Ruby helped him capture after seeing how much Wally wanted a Pokémon. However, he also borrowed Ruby's Ralts and rescued the Treecko intended for Emerald, but they ended up returned to their rightful owners, and the third Pokédex was returned to Birch, which was then finally given to Emerald.

When Emerald arrived in the Battle Frontier he had no Pokémon on hand. Then he challenged the Battle Factory using only Rental Pokémon, nearly at the end of the challenge, he noticed something suspicious about a Sceptile so he decided to steal it from the facility and kept him afterwards, it is later is revealed that the Sceptile was supposed to be his in the first place. It evolved from its Grovyle stage in the wild, after evolving once in Wally's care.

Diamond's first was his Munchlax, and later he received a Turtwig from Platinum because of a misunderstanding. It has since evolved to Torterra alongside the others.

In interviews with Junichi Masuda during 2009, he stated that starter Pokémon are the Pokémon from each game that the most work goes into, and usually take significantly more time than other Pokémon in each generation.

Two of the three Johto fully evolved starter Pokémon, Typhlosion and Feraligatr, share the position of the fully evolved starter Pokémon to have the longest name. However, they tie with the not fully evolved starter Pokémon Charmander and Charmeleon. Also, two of the three Unova starter Pokémon, Snivy and Tepig, share the position of the starter Pokémon or its evolutions with the shortest name.

In the games

All starter Pokémon in the main series besides Pikachu have a gender ratio of seven males to one female.

Due to this, as well as the way in which gender and Shininess were determined, it was impossible to have a Shiny female starter Pokémon in Generation II, as the lowest Attack IV a Shiny Pokémon could have was 2, while the highest Attack IV a female Pokémon in that gender group could have was 1.

The Hoenn starter Pokémon all evolve for the first time at level 16, then again at level 36. The Unova starter Pokémon all evolve for the first time at level 17, and then again at level 36. Other trios have differences among the three in either one or both evolutionary levels.

Pokémon Colosseum is the only Pokémon game that the player starts out with more than one starter Pokémon. They are also the highest leveled. Other games such as the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series and Pokédex 3D have the player start with multiple Pokémon, but these are not true starter Pokémon.

All of the Grass-type starter Pokémon have the Ability Overgrow, the Fire-type ones Blaze, and the Water-type ones Torrent. The exception to this are the evolutions of the Eevee obtained in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

However, through the Dream World, it is possible to find starter Pokémon with other Abilities.

In the National Pokédex and the regional Pokédexes, the Grass-type starter Pokémon comes numerically before the others. The Water-type ones always come last numerically.

Charmander and Treecko are both based on lizards (salamander, gecko). Ash had the final forms of them: Charizard and Sceptile. A real life salamander is an amphibian, not a lizard; however, Charmander is based upon the legendary creature known as the Salamander.

Both May and Dawn have a second starter Pokémon from a previous generation with a type disadvantage to their first. These starter Pokémon are both from two generations prior to their owner's introduction, and featured in the anime likely due to the same-generation remakes.